Issue date: 2/2/09 Section: News

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (File Photo/The Daily Eastern News)

Though former Gov. Rod Blagojevich may not like the Illinois Senate's decision to remove him from office, many Eastern faculty and students are celebrating the decision.

"It's wonderful," said Andrew McNitt, a political science professor. "It's very beneficial to the state of Illinois."

McNitt said Blagojevich left the state's budget in crisis. "The state, even without a recession, did not have a balanced budget," McNitt said. "We are in serious financial difficulties."

But just how serious those financial difficulties are remains unclear, said Richard Wandling, political science department chair.

"One major challenge for Gov. (Pat) Quinn is to find out just how bad our budget situation is," Wandling said.

That is because many observers doubt the accuracy of Blagojevich's budget estimates, Wandling said.

However deep Illinois' debt, the state needs more revenue, McNitt said. That could mean tax increases and spending cuts, he said.

"You need (revenue) to get a highway construction program," McNitt said. "You need it so you can pay Medicare providers."

But to fix the state's problems, Quinn must work with the legislature, something Blagojevich seldom did, Wandling said. "His approach was to go out, hold a press conference, and rage against these allegedly 'no-good' politicians in Springfield," Wandling said.

He said Blagojevich's decision to conduct television interviews in New York instead of attending his senate trial was part of that pattern.

"That whole approach is indicative of what contributed to his demise," Wandling said. "It was not really a politically rational thing for Blagojevich to do."

Some Eastern students say Blagojevich's removal from office shows corruption in state government.

"It tells me that (Illinois) is a corrupt state," said Harrison Cole, a senior music performance major and Missouri resident. "It makes anyone who comes to prominence suspect."

Other students say state government needs reform. "Obviously, Illinois seems very corrupt," said Lauren Gallick, a freshman elementary-education major. "You wonder, 'Should we be making some major changes?'"


Joe Astrouski can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmastrouski@eiu.edu.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools

The Daily Eastern News encourages on-topic, civil discussion on its articles posted online. It is our policy not to screen comments before they are posted or edit them after they are posted. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are off-topic, malicious, libelous or include excessive foul language. The DEN also reserves the right to turn off all comments on any story it deems necessary.

Comments violating copyright law will also be removed.

Users who repeatedly violate this policy will be banned from commenting.

If you have any questions on our comment policy or wish to report a comment that you feel violates these standards, please e-mail a link to the article to our Online Editor at DENNews.com@gmail.com.